The Drones Club is a recurring fictional location in the stories of British humorist P. G. Wodehouse. It is a gentlemen's club in London. Many of Wodehouse's

Jeeves Jeeves (born Reginald Jeeves, nicknamed Reggie) is a fictional character in a series of comedic short stories and novels by English author P. G. Wodehouse. Jeeves is the highly competent valet of a wealthy and idle young Londoner named Berti ...

and Blandings Castle stories feature the club or its members. Various members of the club appear in stories included in the "Drones Club series", which contains stories not already included in other series. Most of the Drones Club stories star either Freddie Widgeon or

Bingo Little Richard P. "Bingo" Little is a recurring fictional character in the comedic Jeeves and Drones Club stories of English writer P. G. Wodehouse, being a friend of Jeeves's master Bertie Wooster and a member of the Drones Club. In his early appear ...

. The name "Drones" has been used by several real-life clubs and restaurants.

Overview

The Drones Club is in Mayfair,

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, located in Dover Street, off Piccadilly. A

drone Drone most commonly refers to: * Drone (bee), a male bee, from an unfertilized egg * Unmanned aerial vehicle * Unmanned surface vehicle, watercraft * Unmanned underwater vehicle or underwater drone Drone, drones or The Drones may also refer to: ...

being a male bee that does no work, living off the labour of others, it aptly describes the late 1920s to early 1930s stereotype of rich, idle young club members, though some of the members have careers and even jobs. As decided by a vote of the club's members, the Drones Club tie is a striking "rich purple". A Drones Club scarf is also mentioned. Wodehouse based the Drones Club on a combination of three real London clubs: the Bachelors' Club (which existed around the turn of the century),

Buck's Club Buck's Club is a gentlemen's club in London, located at 18 Clifford Street, established in June 1919. P. G. Wodehouse mentions it in some stories and modelled his Drones Club mostly after Buck's. It is probably best known for the Buck's Fizz ...

(established 1919), and a dash of the Bath Club for its swimming pool's ropes and rings. The fictional Drones barman, McGarry, has the same surname as the Buck's first bartender, a Mr McGarry (Buck's barman from 1919 to 1941, credited with creating the Buck's Fizz and Sidecar cocktails). However Evelyn Waugh declared that the Drones did not resemble any real club in 1920s London. A real club has been based at 40 Dover Street since 1893, The Arts Club. Other gentlemen's clubs which have existed on Dover Street but are now dissolved include the Bath Club, the Junior Naval and Military Club, and the Scottish Club, as well as two mixed-sex clubs, the Albemarle Club and the Empress Club. None of these were considered among London's 'premier' clubs of the kind found on St James's Street and Pall Mall, and so their ambience often had something of the raucous informality of the fictional Drones Club. About a dozen club members are major or secondary recurring characters in the Wodehouse stories. In addition to Bertie Wooster (Jeeves stories), Pongo Twistleton (Uncle Fred stories), Rupert Psmith (Psmith stories), and Freddie Threepwood (Blandings stories), prominent recurring drones include

and Freddie Widgeon, plus Monty Bodkin, Barmy Fotheringay-Phipps, Tuppy Glossop, Catsmeat Potter-Pirbright, Archibald Mulliner, and the club millionaire Oofy Prosser.

Events

* The Drones Club annual Golf tournament: A yearly

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping wi ...

handicap tournament that was held one year at Bingley-on-Sea. * The Drones Club Squash Handicap: A yearly squash tournament. One year, Bertie Wooster was runner-up. * The Drones Club Darts Tournament: An annual darts sweepstakes tournament held in February. Tickets are purchased for ten shillings and members draw tournament contestants. The darts tournament then takes place, and the member who drew the winner of the tournament wins the jackpot. * The Drones Club Fat Uncles Sweep: An annual sweepstakes contest introduced by Freddie Widgeon. Members enter their uncles in the Fat Uncles sweep and the uncles' names are drawn from a hat. Later, on the first day of the Eton v Harrow match, the members bring their uncles to the Drones Club for lunch. McGarry, the club bartender, having the uncanny ability of estimating the weight of anything to an ounce by sight, estimates the weight of the uncles and determines the fattest uncle. The member that drew the fattest uncle wins the jackpot, which was well over a hundred pounds the first year the contest was run. A change made later to the contest is that fifty pounds is allocated from the jackpot to the nephew of the winning uncle as prize money.

Stories

Among the Wodehouse works, what was later dubbed the "Drones Club series" is a loose set of separate stories told by various narrators about members of the Drones Club. Many of the stories are told at the club or have some events happening at the club. ; Main canon The main canon consists of 21 short stories (nine

, eight Freddie Widgeon, and four other Drones, including the one introducing Pongo Twistleton and his Uncle Fred), as eventually collected in the omnibus: * ''Tales from the Drones Club'' (1982) later ''The Drones Omnibus'' (1991) The same set of short stories is also available in their original collections: * Collected in ''

Young Men in Spats ''Young Men in Spats'' is a collection of short stories by P. G. Wodehouse, first published in the United Kingdom on 3 April 1936 by Herbert Jenkins, London, then in the United States with a slightly different selection of stories on 24 July 1 ...

'' (1936) ** " Fate" (Freddie Widgeon) ** "

Tried in the Furnace ''Young Men in Spats'' is a collection of short stories by P. G. Wodehouse, first published in the United Kingdom on 3 April 1936 by Herbert Jenkins, London, then in the United States with a slightly different selection of stories on 24 July 1 ...

" (Barmy Fotheringay-Phipps and Pongo Twistleton) ** "

Trouble Down at Tudsleigh ''Young Men in Spats'' is a collection of short stories by P. G. Wodehouse, first published in the United Kingdom on 3 April 1936 by Herbert Jenkins, London, then in the United States with a slightly different selection of stories on 24 July 1 ...

" (Freddie Widgeon) ** " The Amazing Hat Mystery" (Percy Wimbolt and Nelson Cork) ** " Goodbye to All Cats" (Freddie Widgeon) ** " The Luck of the Stiffhams" (Stiffy Stiffham) ** " Noblesse Oblige" (Freddie Widgeon) ** "

Uncle Fred Flits By "Uncle Fred Flits By" is a short story by British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse, which was published in the United States in the July 1935 edition of ''Redbook'', and in the United Kingdom in the December 1935 issue of the ''Strand''. It was incl ...

" (Pongo Twistleton with Uncle Fred) * Collected in ''

Lord Emsworth and Others ''Lord Emsworth and Others'' is a collection of nine short stories by P. G. Wodehouse, first published in the United Kingdom on 19 March 1937 by Herbert Jenkins, London; it was not published in the United States.McIlvaine, E., Sherby, L.S. and H ...

'' (1937) ** "

The Masked Troubadour ''Lord Emsworth and Others'' is a collection of nine short stories by P. G. Wodehouse, first published in the United Kingdom on 19 March 1937 by Herbert Jenkins, London; it was not published in the United States.McIlvaine, E., Sherby, L.S. and H ...

" (Freddie Widgeon) * Collected in ''

Eggs, Beans and Crumpets ''Eggs, Beans and Crumpets'' is a collection of short stories by P. G. Wodehouse, first published in the United Kingdom on April 26, 1940 by Herbert Jenkins, London, then with a slightly different content in the United States on May 10, 1940 by ...

'' (1940) ** "

All's Well with Bingo ''Eggs, Beans and Crumpets'' is a collection of short stories by P. G. Wodehouse, first published in the United Kingdom on April 26, 1940 by Herbert Jenkins, London, then with a slightly different content in the United States on May 10, 1940 by ...

" (

) ** "

Bingo and the Peke Crisis ''Eggs, Beans and Crumpets'' is a collection of short stories by P. G. Wodehouse, first published in the United Kingdom on April 26, 1940 by Herbert Jenkins, London, then with a slightly different content in the United States on May 10, 1940 by ...

" (Bingo Little) ** " The Editor Regrets" (Bingo Little) ** " Sonny Boy" (Bingo Little with Oofy Prosser) * Collected in '' Nothing Serious'' (1950) ** " The Shadow Passes" (Bingo Little) ** " Bramley Is So Bracing" (Freddie Widgeon with Bingo Little) * Collected in ''

A Few Quick Ones ''A Few Quick Ones'' is a collection of ten short stories by P. G. Wodehouse. It was first published in the United States on 13 April 1959 by Simon & Schuster, New York, and in the United Kingdom on 26 June 1959 by Herbert Jenkins, London. Th ...

'' (1959) ** " The Fat of the Land" (Freddie Widgeon with Oofy Prosser) ** "

The Word in Season ''A Few Quick Ones'' is a collection of ten short stories by P. G. Wodehouse. It was first published in the United States on 13 April 1959 by Simon & Schuster, New York, and in the United Kingdom on 26 June 1959 by Herbert Jenkins, London. The ...

" (Bingo Little) ** " Leave it to Algy" (Bingo Little with Oofy Prosser) ** " Oofy, Freddie and the Beef Trust" (Freddie Widgeon with Oofy Prosser) * Collected in ''

Plum Pie ''Plum Pie'' is a collection of nine short stories by P. G. Wodehouse, first published in the United Kingdom on 22 September 1966 by Barrie & Jenkins (under the Herbert Jenkins imprint), and in the United States on 1 December 1967 by Simon & S ...

'' (1966) ** " Bingo Bans the Bomb" (Bingo Little with Freddie Widgeon) ** "

Stylish Stouts ''Plum Pie'' is a collection of nine short stories by P. G. Wodehouse, first published in the United Kingdom on 22 September 1966 by Barrie & Jenkins (under the Herbert Jenkins imprint), and in the United States on 1 December 1967 by Simon & S ...

" (Bingo Little) ; Additional novels Six novels about the adventures of Drones Club Members as main protagonist: * '' Money for Nothing'' (1928) – novel about Hugo Carmody and Ronnie Fish * ''

The Luck of the Bodkins ''The Luck of the Bodkins'' is a novel by P.G. Wodehouse, first published in the United Kingdom on 11 October 1935 by Herbert Jenkins, and in the United States on 3 January 1936 by Little, Brown and Company.McIlvaine (1990), pp. 69–70, A54. ...

'' (1935) – novel about Monty Bodkin with Reggie Tennyson * '' Laughing Gas'' (1936) – novel about Reginald Swithin * ''

Barmy in Wonderland ''Barmy in Wonderland'' is a novel by P. G. Wodehouse, first published in the United Kingdom on 21 April 1952 by Herbert Jenkins, London, and in the United States on 8 May 1952 by Doubleday & Company, New York, under the title ''Angel Cake''. ...

'' (1952) – novel about Barmy Fotheringay-Phipps * ''

Ice in the Bedroom ''Ice in the Bedroom'' is a novel by P.G. Wodehouse, first published as a book in the United States (where the title was ''The Ice in the Bedroom'') on February 2, 1961 by Simon & Schuster, Inc., New York, and in the United Kingdom on October 1 ...

'' (1961) – novel about Freddie Widgeon with Oofy Prosser * '' Pearls, Girls and Monty Bodkin'' (1972) – novel about Monty Bodkin ; Related stories Related are all stories about those Drones Club members already part of another series (

and Bertie,

Blandings Blandings Castle is a recurring fictional location in the stories of British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse, being the seat of Lord Emsworth (Clarence Threepwood, 9th Earl of Emsworth), home to many of his family and the setting for numerous tal ...

's Freddie Threepwood, Uncle Fred and Pongo, Psmith, Mr Mulliner's nephew Archibald Mulliner), but more especially: * ''

The Inimitable Jeeves ''The Inimitable Jeeves'' by P.G. Wodehouse was the first of the Jeeves novels, although not originally conceived as a single narrative, being assembled from a number of short stories featuring the same characters. The book was first published ...

'' (1923) – Jeeves semi-novel, Bertie and Bingo, some events at the club * '' Leave it to Psmith'' (1923) – Psmith and Blandings novel, also Freddie Threepwood, some events at the club * Collected in ''

Mr Mulliner Speaking ''Mr Mulliner Speaking'' is a collection of nine short stories by P. G. Wodehouse. It was first published in the United Kingdom on April 30, 1929 by Herbert Jenkins, and in the United States on February 21, 1930 by Doubleday, Doran.McIlvaine ...

'' (1929) ** " The Reverent Wooing of Archibald" (1928) – Archibald Mulliner and Algy Wymondham-Wymondham, starts at the club, told by Mr Mulliner * '' Summer Lightning'' (1929) – Blandings novel with Hugo Carmody and Ronnie Fish * '' Heavy Weather'' (1933) – Blandings novel with Hugo Carmody and Ronnie Fish, also Monty Bodkin, some events at the club * Collected in ''

'' (1936) ** " Archibald and the Masses" (1935) – Archibald Mulliner, told by Mr Mulliner ** " The Code of the Mulliners" (1935) – Archibald Mulliner, told by Mr Mulliner * ''

Uncle Fred in the Springtime ''Uncle Fred in the Springtime'' is a novel by P. G. Wodehouse, first published in the United States on 18 August 1939 by Doubleday, Doran, New York, and in the United Kingdom on 25 August 1939 by Herbert Jenkins, London.McIlvaine (1990), p. 7 ...

'' (1939) – Uncle Fred and Blandings novel, action started by Pongo, Horace, and Oofy at the club * '' Cocktail Time'' (1958) – Uncle Fred novel, some events with Pongo at the club * "

Life with Freddie ''Plum Pie'' is a collection of nine short stories by P. G. Wodehouse, first published in the United Kingdom on 22 September 1966 by Barrie & Jenkins (under the Herbert Jenkins imprint), and in the United States on 1 December 1967 by Simon & S ...

" in ''

'' (1966) – Freddie Threepwood, some events with the club's barman ; Relatable story Relatable is one story, which features the club and a Drone as a secondary character, and marks the first mention of the Drones Club: * '' Jill the Reckless'' (1921) – novel, Drone Algy Martyn as secondary character, one chapter at the club Many more stories simply include a Drones member in some scenes, or have mentions of club members. ; Not included Not included are all identical stories published under other titles (in magazines or U.S. versions), or "recycled" stories, especially: * "

Comrade Bingo "Comrade Bingo" is a short story by P. G. Wodehouse, and features the young gentleman Bertie Wooster and his valet Jeeves. The story was published in ''The Strand Magazine'' in London in May 1922, and in ''Cosmopolitan'' in New York that same mo ...

" and "

Bingo and the Little Woman "Bingo and the Little Woman" is a short story by P. G. Wodehouse, and features the young gentleman Bertie Wooster and his valet Jeeves. The story was published in ''The Strand Magazine'' in London in November 1922, and then in ''Cosmopolitan'' i ...

" (Bingo Little) – 1922 magazine stories merged into the semi-novel ''The Inimitable Jeeves'' (1923) * "Quest" (Freddie Widgeon) – 1931 magazine story rewritten as " The Knightly Quest of Mervyn" (Mr Mulliner, non-Drones story, still featuring Oofy Prosser) * "The Ordeal of Bingo Little" (Bingo Little) – 1954 magazine story rewritten as "Leave It to Algy" (Bingo Little, included above) * "Unpleasantness at Kozy Kot" (Drone Dudley "Biffy" Wix-Biffen) – 1958 "exclusive" story recycled for the U.S. edition of ''

'' (1959) from "

Fixing it for Freddie "Fixing it for Freddie" is a short story by P. G. Wodehouse, and features the young gentleman Bertie Wooster and his valet Jeeves. Originally starring Reggie Pepper, the story was published in ''The Strand Magazine'' as "Helping Freddie" in the ...

" (Jeeves story) * "The Great Fat Uncle Contest" (Bingo Little) – 1965 magazine rewrite of "Stylish Stouts" (Bingo Little, included above)

Eggs, Beans, and Crumpets

Most of the Drones short stories are also "Eggs, Beans, and Crumpets stories". These stories feature unnamed club members, each referred to as an "Egg", "Bean", or "Crumpet". This is allegedly based on the habit they have of addressing each other as "old egg", "old bean", or "my dear old crumpet", though characters in the stories almost never address other characters by these nicknames. A few later stories introduce a fourth subset of Drones Club members known as "Piefaces". Many of the Drones Club stories begin with these nondescript members talking about the latest exploits of Freddie Widgeon, Pongo Twistleton, Bingo Little, or another of their number. The story then transitions into a particularly well-informed Crumpet narrating the story as he tells it to an uninformed Egg or Bean: : "Beau Widgeon?" said the Egg, impressed. "What ho!" A Crumpet shook his head. "You won't catch Freddie joining any Foreign Legion, once he gets on to the fact that it means missing his morning cup of tea. .. (in "Noblesse Oblige") : " ..I allude, of course, to the Bella Mae Jobson affair." The Bean asked what the Bella Mae Jobson affair was, and the Crumpet, expressing surprise that he had not heard of it, said that it was the affair of Bella Mae Jobson. (in "The Editor Regrets") : "He can't do that here," said an Egg, .."Hoy!" he went on, addressing the Crumpet, who had entered as he spoke. (in "The Word in Season") Wodehouse had already used this technique in the stories told by his Mr Mulliner, who refers to his anonymous interlocutors by the name of their drink.

Members

The total number of members is not established. At the Drones Club weekend in Le Touquet, France, were "about 87 members", and not all of them crossed the Channel (such as Pongo Twistleton and Horace Pendlebury-Davenport). ; Confirmed Drones members include * Samuel Galahad "Sam" Bagshott * Charles Edward "Biffy" Biffen * Montague "Monty" Bodkin * Godfrey "Biscuit" Brent, Lord Biskerton * "Tubby", Lord Bridgnorth * Frederick "Freddie" Bullivant * Hugo Carmody * Freddie Chalk-Marshall * G. D'Arcy "Stilton" Cheesewright * Nelson Cork * Dudley Finch * Ronald Overbury "Ronnie" Fish * George "Boko" Fittleworth * Cyril "Barmy" Fotheringay-Phipps * Hildebrand "Tuppy" Glossop * Richard "Bingo" Little * Algernon "Algy" Martyn * Archibald "Archie" Mulliner * Horace Pendlebury-Davenport * Judson Phipps * Tipton Plimsoll * Claude Cattermole "Catsmeat" Potter-Pirbright * Alexander "Oofy" Prosser * Rupert "Psmith" Smith * William "Bill" Belfry, 9th Earl of Rowcester * Adolphus "Stiffy" Stiffham * Reginald "Reggie" Tennyson * Frederick "Freddie" Threepwood * Reginald "Pongo" Twistleton * Hugo Walderwick * Frederick "Freddie" Widgeon * Percy Wimbolt * Harold "Ginger" Winship * Bertram "Bertie" Wooster * Algernon "Algy" Wymondham-Wymondham ; Possible Drones members include * "Chuffy", Lord Chuffnell * Augustus "Gussie" Fink-Nottle * Harold "Stinker" Pinker ; Club staff includes * Bates (hall porter) * McGarry (a barman) * Robinson (a cloakroom waiter) ; Virtual Drones members include * "Eggs, Beans, and Crumpets" (unknown narrator(s) and various nondescript members) * Dudley "Biffy" Wix-Biffen (exists only in a non-canon, recycled story)

Real Drones Clubs

Some real "Drones" clubs or restaurants exist or have existed, including: * The Drones Club, a private club in Point Judith, Rhode Island (USA), was established in the late 1930s. * A "Drones" restaurant existed in the early 1970s in London at 1 Pont Street off Knightsbridge. Previously a burger-and-fries, in November 2000 it was turned into a gastronomic restaurant by new owner and restaurateur Marco Pierre White. This "Drones Club" moved to 12 St. George Street in Mayfair, and was purchased in 2004 by businessman Ben Goldsmith and turned into a members-only dining club. Membership included pop stars,

peer Peer may refer to: Sociology * Peer, an equal in age, education or social class; see Peer group * Peer, a member of the peerage; related to the term "peer of the realm" Computing * Peer, one of several functional units in the same layer of a ne ...

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

s and princesses. This club closed in March 2007 due to losing its location to a restaurant. * Another "Drones" restaurant, aka "Drones Fenwick of Bond Street", exists in London inside the Fenwick department store at 63 New Bond Street.Drones Fenwick.com
, restaurant website. It was linked to "The Drones Club" above.

References, notes and sources

;References and notes ;Sources (members and stories) * * * * * * * {{P. G. Wodehouse Drones Club Drones Club Drones Club Drones Club characters Drones Club characters Drones Club characters Gentlemen's clubs in London *Drones Club